Skyfall: Drifted and Broken
by Queen of the Beasts
Summary: Book one of the Skyfall series. He not a transformer anymore. He had left that all behind and is now struggling as a human. But now Loki has returned to Earth...and he's got some older enemies with him. The Avengers cannot officially stop him. But maybe Tony Stark can, since he use to be the Maximal leader. Post Beast Wars/Machines. Takes off into the movie.
1. Waking From a Nightmare

**Eh, he he. Bet you're wondering what this is. Well, I've read a few TF stories about this and that and transformers coming to Earth and end up turning into humans. But seriously folks, I wanted to do a Transformers and The Avengers crossover since spring. I'm talking about March. Yeah, that was a very long time ago. And if you're wondering why five chapters are up in a row, it's because I have posted this story up on DA first. All you have to do now is tell me what you think. And please be gentle. This is my first OFFICIAL crossover that I am not planning on deleting.**

1. Waking From a Nightmare

My third last day of my cycle, my third rebirth, and my sixth form wasn't exactly how I quite imagined it.

You know, when I was young, I always thought that once you died, you stay dead. Six brave warriors that I have fought alongside with have proven it to be fact. Me? I'm living proof that life can come back. But it's not an honorary idea to me.

I am dead right now. Deceased. No longer existing. But yet for some odd reason I can think. I can feel. I can hear. I can move. And I'm pretty sure that dead people don't do _any_ of that. Do they?

The voices are louder. And they seem to be getting closer. But at the same time, they sounded like they were fading away. I don't know what's going on, but I'm pretty sure that I'm about to find out whether I want to or not.

And then, she spoke.

_Optimus._

My name.

_You who once blamed yourself for Cybertron's fall._

Yes. I did. I blamed myself.

_You who doubted things and never seek out the truth._

Ouch. That really hurt.

_You who never saw the truth until the end before you fell to your death and let the guilt weigh you down until your second death...now listen well and listen carefully._

I felt my optics come online and my entire chassis loosen. I looked around to find myself in a starry void, filled with constellations; ones that I knew, ones I couldn't name, and ones that looked foreign to me. But I knew where I was and who was talking to me.

The Oracle.

_Once a brave and noble warrior in the Beast Wars, now reliving himself all over again, you are also a shell of an empty and broken spark. You are now a fallen warrior, said to have become one with Cybertron's core. You have lost your true coloring, the person you became in the previous war you fought in. However, that being is not gone. Now, Optimus, since Megatron has perished, you can awaken whole and new. But remember...transform your destiny. Transform and transcend._

A burst of pain erupted through my systems, but it wasn't the kind of pain that made you scream and it wasn't bad. Not worse than the time I died, not worse than when I took my predecessor's spark and I ended up growing and morphing into Optimal Optimus, not worse than when I reverted back to my original form, not worse than when I felt my body melting, not worse than when Megatron showed me visions of the lifeless corpses of my comrades, not worse than when I felt myself falling into the depths of Cybertron's core.

Suddenly the pain diminished and I saw a white light appear behind the shutters of my optics.

* * *

The doctor's voices came and went, trying to heal me. But when the voices were gone was when I could open my optics. But when I woke up immediately...something felt out of place. A ceiling was over me, but even that didn't stop me from worrying. What the pit is going on? Where did the Oracle sent me to?

"Hello?"

I stiffened. That did not _sound_ like my voice. What happened to my voice? I swore I didn't sound this young before. Did I?

I brought my servo up into view and thought one thing: Oh, pit no.

It was pale, strong, but it was not orange. Nor did it have any armor on it. On the happy note, I was not naked. But...what was covering my body? It was soft and silky. And the colors of them matched my techo-organic form.

I slowly sat up and took in my surroundings. I was on a medical berth. There was a small table with a bowl of clear liquid in it. Water, if I remembered from my visit on prehistoric Earth. There was also a clipboard with a writing utensil and a tray. A clear tray.

_Yes!_

I grabbed the tray and looked into it, looking on in surprise. Was this _really_ me?

I saw my new face. Soft, young, maybe early twenties. Curls of brown wire-like substances sprouted from the top of my helm. My eyes were...blue? Brown? I couldn't tell. The figure sure didn't look like me.

"So, you're awake."

I jumped and looked up, almost surprised to find a male human standing in the doorway. I nearly shivered when I saw him. He was older than me, short black hair. Either it was that short or he was completely bald. What scared me the most was that not only did he have dark eyes, but one of them was covered with an optic patch. He was wearing black from head to toe.

"Who are you?" I demanded.

"The name is Director Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D," the man introduced himself. "The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."

I frowned. "What?"

"We're still working on the name," Director Fury said.

I rubbed the back of my head.

"You were found in the Indian Ocean," Director Fury continued. "A bunch of Japanese fishermen saw you falling from the sky and they pulled you out. They all thought you fell out of a plane, but there was no report of that days later."

I snapped my attention to him. "Days? How long was I out?"

"Um, including today...three weeks."

I gaped at him. Three weeks? The rest of the Maximals! Were they all okay? Rattrap, Cheetor, Blackarachnia, Nightscream, Silverbolt, Sari (long story there), and Botanica? Did they all get their sparks back? Were they still on Cybertron? And if not, where _are_ they?

"I don't understand," I said.

"Not yet," Director Fury said as he tossed me a long cloth. "Wash yourself. There is a lot to discuss."

* * *

What seemed to be a year later was confusing. It was actually four months since I had reawaken.

The four moths was a pain in the aft. I was basically taught the human anatomy. Like I needed to. Well, it seemed to be more intersting than a Cybertronian's anatomy.

Walking had been a challenge. I don't know how many times I've fallen, but once I fell on top of Agent Sitwell. I hate the Oracle _now_.

It was like therapy. Get up. Eat. Head over to the med bay and listen to Doctor whats-his-face talk about this and that and so on. Did I already mention how much I _love_ the Oracle?

Eventually, when I could leave was after a car accident was reported, killing Howard Stark and his wife. Their son went missing, so I assumed he was dead. They were thinking that I was ready. Suddenly, I realized why.

"I am not taking someone else's identity."

I told Agent Coulson that. I didn't care if I was going to die tomorrow or when, but they were not going to make me someone that already _had_ existed.

"Um, sorry, I didn't catch your name," Coulson said.

"They called me Optimus Primal," I snarled.

"Um, Mr. Primal."

Did he _seriously_ just call me that?"

"It would be easier for you to be given an identity, but we aren't sure if people will or will not figure it out if you just randomly appear out of nowhere."

"They probably will if they see that I don't look anything like the original Anthony Stark," I pointed out.

"On the contrary, you _do_," Coulson said as he presented me a picture. "See for yourself."

I looked at the picture and felt my face flush. I did look like Stark's son. This was spooky.

"Say I did," I complemented. "Where did this 'Tony' kid live?"

Coulson smiled. "Stark Towers." He handed every document that made Stark's kid existed to me. "Welcome back, Tony."

I stared at the documents he gave me. "You know," I began, "I appreciate this, but I just don't think it will work out well."

"I didn't have a say in this and I don't think you do either," said Coulson. "If you were actually born human instead of...well, whatever it is you were, this would be a lot easier."

"I appreciate that as a compliment," I countered. "But even if I didn't, then what happens to me?"

"Fury didn't say," Coulson answered. "So in these terms, I would have taken the offer."

I pondered this in for a little bit before I decided, "Okay. I'll take it. When can I leave?"

"Right now, if you like."


	2. New Home

**Hmm, well. Rhinox is here. Coulson has paid a little visit. Not the best dream I've made up. Eh, oh well.**

**So, in the very next chapter, we will enter Marvel's The Avengers movie. Enjoy.**

2. New Home

Half a week later, I had gain the control over Stark Industries, though I knew it was wrong. I felt like I was stealing from someone and I didn't like it one bit. Maybe it was just me. It might be the instincts I picked up during the Beast Wars. I barely thought during the Spark Wars because I was so obsessed with the Oracle's goal — Yeah, I admitted it, _Rattrap!_ — and never gave a frag.

I looked out one of the windows and watched the world below me go by. A feeling occurred to me. What year was this? The past? The present? The future? It was hard to tell. If only I had the transwarp technology.

I wonder how the others would have reacted if they were in my place right now. I could imagine a few, but I'm not pretty sure about the rest since the Spark Wars scarred them. It got me good.

I looked up when I thought I heard the ping of the elevator. I turned and found Agent Coulson there with a phone to his ear. He immediately retracted it.

"If you're wondering about interrupting something, you didn't," I told him, looking back out the window. Primus, how far down is it to the road?

I didn't even notice my jacket was off until I heard him ask, "What happened here?"

I looked down and saw the markings on my arms. Battle scars. And the Maximal signature on my right shoulder!

"Fighting," I explained before my fingers caressed the symbol. "This is what I was before I was human. A Maximal. Descendants of Autobots, a group of Cybertronians who fought for peace. They're opposite of the Decepticons and Predacons, warriors of chaos."

Wow. It felt good to say the Pred's namesake after fighting the Spark Wars for a brief while.

"Cybertronians?" Coulson repeated.

"Yeah," I sighed. "We were sentient living machines on a planet of steel and glass. I don't think it is anymore now that it has some organic material in it."

"I see," he breathed.

I nodded. "So, what do the Starks do for a living?"

"They're billionaires," he answered. "They ran an industrial company of weaponry and technology."

I raised my brows. Weapons? Well, this was going to be one _long_ life.

"What of the original Anthony?" I asked. "Did you recover his body?"

"We did a proper funeral for him when we did," Coulson said. "But he was near rotting."

I shuddered at the image of it. "So, what brings you here?" I asked, deciding to change the subject.

I didn't get an answer. I turned to ask him and found him gone. I walked towards the elevator before I noticed a small bag with a note on it. I paused and picked up the note and read it.

_I hope we got your size right._

* * *

I tossed and turned that night, horrific images and very bad memories haunting me. But there was one that stood out.

The other Maximals, all seven of them, including Noble who died, being slashed at, shot at, watching helplessly as their sparks were ripped out of their chassis and dooming them to eternal darkness.

The nightmares faded until I saw a techno-organic I didn't recognize. He was tall, broad, and well chiseled. His lower jaw slightly jutted out. He was a light shade of brown with some silver and black components and armor pieces. Some of the armor looked oddly familiar. Then it hit me.

"Rhinox?" I breathed.

He smiled at me, his crimson optics twinkled. "Optimus, didn't expect to see you look this...young."

I smiled and shook my head. "Very funny." I frowned. "Aren't you dead?"

"So?" he countered. "You were dead, too."

"Sari told me she had a dream where you guys were coming back," I reported.

"One of us," he answers.

I frowned.

"What do you mean _one_ of us?" I demanded. "Who's the one who came back?"

"I was."

A wave of joy washed over me, but I felt uncertain. "What of the others?"

"They're still one with the Matrix."

"And the other _others_?"

"Living a life together as a family should."

I sighed in relief. "Great. But...what of the rest of the Cybertronians? What has become of them?"

His smile faded. "Unfortunately, as Cybertron's reformatting was successful, only a tiny piece of our people were reformatted as well."

"Define a tiny piece."

"A couple we found so far."

I should have been yelling right now, but I immediately thought of something. "What of Strika and Obsidian? And Thrust? I think Megatron is dead himself now, but the other three?"

"Who?"

"I thought the other Maximals would have filled you," I nearly shouted. "What the pit? Didn't they tell you anything?"

"I was told little of it," Rhinox stated, "though Sari did mention something."

"What?"

"Something about a rising storm."

Yep. I was aware of that.

"Oh, come now. Even eternity can try a Maximal's patience."

"I'm not here in this void for anyone's amusement. Especially Megatron's."

"No, but I'm pretty sure he thinks you'll come back for him."

"Does that Predacon" — Wow, that _did_ feel good — "take me for a fool?"

"No, but there was a time if I remembered when he took us all for fools."

"And you believed that?"

"No, but back then I _believed_ in miracles."

I sighed. "And Megatron will return, I'm guessing."

"Whether we like it or not."

I gazed down at the endless space below me. Or whatever my feet were planted.

"I don't want to admit it to be true, but it is, Primal."

"What does he want in return if he should return?"

"Thrust restored and the Vehicons wherever you are."

"He must be joking."

"I wish."

"Why?"

"To finish you off himself, I'm predicting."

I clenched my fists. "Well, nothing is going to change."

"_You_ might."

I glared at him. "Just because I stole someone's life doesn't mean anything."

"People say that, Primal, and then they forget about it. They say it, but they end up changing anyways."

I concentrated on our previous problem. "Does anyone know about a rising storm?"

"Not yet," he said before he slowly faded away. "But I'm guessing Cheetor will."

I looked up. "Wait. Rhinox. Why him alone? Rhinox. He's not old enough to—"

I jolted awake. Sweat formed on my forehead. My eyes darted around. I relaxed and slowly doze off back to sleep.

"You're wrong," I whispered before I did. "I'll never change."


	3. A Visit From SHIELD

**And here we are, entering the world of the Avengers. Wow. Enjoy AND REVIEW!**

3. A Visit From S.H.I.E.L.D

I am going to kill Rhinox.

That bastard was right. I swore many times over the years I wouldn't change, but you tell me how in the name of Primus I went from a Maximal warrior to this guy who drinks and gambles. And sadly, during the years, I forgot about the other Maximals and S.H.I.E.L.D. It serves me right now that I have a shrapnel that is close to killing me.

Using one of my Iron Man suits, I cut one of the pipes with a laser and removed the piece. I set the arc reactor and watched it click into place. Then I powered up my boosters and flew out of the water before heading back to Stark Towers.

"Good to go on this end," I told Pepper Potts. "The rest is up to you."

_"You disconnected the transmission lines?"_ Pepper asked. _"Are we off the grid?"_

"Stark Towers is about to become a beacon of self-sustaining clean energy," I replied.

_"Well, assuming the arc reactor takes over and it actually works."_

"I assume," I deadpanned. "Light her up."

This might actually be a good time for Fall Out Boy's song to play as I watched the tower being lit up from top to bottom. Pride swelled inside of me as 'Stark Tower' flickered on to life.

_"How does it look?"_ Pepper queried.

"Like Christmas," I mused. "But with a little more...me."

_"We've got to go wider on the awareness campaign and you need to do a lot of press work,"_ she told me. _"I'm in DC tomorrow. I'm working on the zoning for the next three buildings."_

"Pepper, you're killing me," I said. "The moment, remember? Enjoy the moment."

_"Then get in here and I will,"_ she hummed.

I flew up the tower and landed on the balcony. As I walked toward the entrance various types of machines came out of slots and began to dismantled my armor.

_"Sir, Agent Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. is on the line,"_ I heard Jarvis announce.

Agent Coulson? Haven't heard from him in forever.

"I'm not in," I said. "I'm actually _out_."

_"Sir, I'm afraid he's insisting,"_ says Jarvis.

"Grow a spine, Jarvis," I told him. "I've got a date."

I walked straight into the room.

"Levels are holding steady, I think," Pepper tells me.

"Of course they are," I say. "I was directly involved. Which brings me to my next question. How does it feel to be a genius?"

"Well, I really wouldn't know, now would I?" Pepper countered.

"What do you mean?" I wondered. "All of this came from you." I gestured to her.

"No, all of this came from _that_." She gestured to the arc in my chest.

"Give yourself some credit, please," I begged. "Stark Tower is your baby. Give yourself twelve percent of the credit."

She didn't seem convinced.

"Twelve percent?"

"An argument can be made for fifteen."

"Twelve percent?" she said as she walked past me. "My baby?"

"Well, I did do all of the heavy lifting," I reminded her. "Literally, I lifted the heavy things. And, sorry, but the security snafu? That was on you."

"Oh."

"My private elevator..."

"You mean _our_ elevator?" Pepper corrected me.

"It was teeming with sweaty workmen," I finished. "I am going to pay for that comment on percentages in some subtle way later, aren't I?"

"It's not going to be _that_ subtle," she said as she passed me a glass of wine.

"I'll tell you what," I promised. "The next building is going to say 'Potts' on the tower."

"On the lease."

"Call your mom. Can you bunk over?"

Pepper just laughed.

_"Sir, the telephone,"_ Jarvis piped up. _"I'm afraid my protocols are being overridden."_

I sighed as I reached out for my cell phone.

_"Mr. Stark, we need to talk,"_ Agent Coulson says.

"You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark," I said, causing Pepper to snicker. "Please leave a message."

_"This is urgent,"_ Coulson insisted.

"Then leave it urgently," I told him.

We heard a familiar ping and turn to find Coulson in the elevator. I turned to Pepper.

"Security breach. It's on you."

"Mr. Stark," says Coulson.

"Phil! Come in," Pepper greeted.

"Phil?" I said.

"I can't stay," says Coulson.

"His first name is Agent," I said.

"Come on in," says Pepper. "We're celebrating."

"Which is why he can't stay," I told her.

"We need you to look this over as soon as possible," Coulson said, handing me a folder.

"I don't like being handed things," I said.

"That's fine," Pepper spoke, "because I _love_ being handed things." She passed me the folder and gave my glass to Coulson. "So, let's trade."

"Official consulting hours are between eight and five every other Thursday," I said to Coulson.

"This isn't a consultation," Coulson stated.

"Is this about the Avengers?" Pepper asks.

Coulson looked at her funny.

Really?

"Which I know nothing about," Pepper quickly said.

"The Avengers Initiative was scrapped, I thought," I retorted as I walked over to the desk. "And I didn't even qualify."

"That I didn't know either," Pepper said.

"Yeah," I added. "Apparently I'm volatile, self-obsessed, and I don't play well with others."

"That I _did_ know," Pepper stated.

"This isn't about personality profiles anymore," Coulson stated.

"Whatever," I said. "Ms. Potts, got a second?"

I didn't even bother her to ask what was up as she came over as I reminded her, "You know, I thought we were having a moment."

"Well, I was having twelve percent of the moment," she shot back.

Same old, same old.

"This seems serious," Pepper continued. "Phil's pretty shaken."

"How would you know if it's..." I paused. "Why is he 'Phil?'"

Don't get me wrong here, but ever since I came to Earth I always thought that they were all named Agent. Now I got a bad feeling that I'm going to have to ask every one of them for their names.

"What is all of this?" Pepper wondered.

I typed in some things before showing her the files. "This."

Each file had a picture and a video of four individuals: Captain America, the Hulk, Thor, and this kid who calls herself Nightraid. Pepper was stunned.

"I'm going to take the plane to DC tonight," she breathed.

"Tomorrow," I corrected. Sort of.

"You have a lot of homework to do," she told me.

"Well, what if I didn't?" I asked.

"If you _didn't_?"

"Yeah."

"You mean when you finished?"

I nodded.

"Well, then..." She leaned in and whispered into my ear. Guess if you can what she said. Phil...looked disturbed.

"Square deal," I agreed. "Fly safe."

She smiled as she leaned in and kissed me. We broke apart and she walked over to Coulson, suddenly striking up a conversation. I reached out and grabbed the holographic image of the Tesseract. Something I found that wasn't _meant_ to be found, later when I realized how much we would pay.

Or, more like how much _I_ would pay.


	4. Two Gods and a Mutant

**I've got nothing here.**

4. Two Gods and a Mutant

Fast forward. Trouble, Germany, Stuttgard, and scenes with Loki later we were on our way back to the hellicarrior. We seemed to be calmed down. Well, Steve Rogers was antsy. Or disturbed in this case.

"I don't like this," he says.

"What?" I asked. "Rock of Ages giving up so easily?"

"No, I don't remember it being this easy," Cap answered. "This guys packs a wallop.

"Well, you are pretty spry for an older fellow," I told him. "What's you thing? Pilates?"

"What?"

"It's like calisthenics. You might have missed a couple of things doing time as Capcicle."

He was quiet for a second before he spoke, "Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in."

"Yeah," I sighed. "There's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you."

Then in comes the thunder and lightning.

"Where's this coming from?" Natasha asked.

The lightning cracked across the sky. Both Cap and I noticed Loki looking uneasy.

"What's the matter?" Cap questioned. "Scare of a little lightening?"

"I'm not overly fond of what follows."

We both looked up.

Something slammed on top of the roof. I walked over and opened the hatch.

"What are you doing?" Cap asked.

And then drops the god of thunder. He walked forward and before I could stop him, that sucker whacked me with his hammer and I ended up landing on top of Cap. When I stood up, he was gone.

"And there's that guy," I mumbled.

"Another Asgardian?" Natasha wondered.

"You think he's a friendly" Cap asked.

"Doesn't matter," I stated. "If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost."

"Stark! We need a plan of attack!" Cap shouted.

"I have a plan...attack." Then I was gone.

Now, let's fast forward to where I ram into Goldilocks and flew into the woods were we crashed into the ground. Well, _he_ crashed into the ground. I just skidded to a halt. But the God of thunder came back up and he didn't look happy.

"Don't not touch me again," he threatened.

"Then don't take my stuff," I shot back.

"You have no idea what you are dealing with," he grumbled.

"Um, Shakespeare in the park?" I guessed sarcastically before I recited, "Doth Mother know you wear-eth her drapes?"

"This is beyond you, metal man. Loki will face Asgardian justice."

"He gives up the cube, he's all yours. Until then" — I dropped my mask — "stay out of the way." I turned around. "Tourist."

Something suddenly slammed into my head and I went flying backwards. I landed on the ground hard. I felt the adrenaline kicking in.

_He wants a fight?_ I thought. _He's got one!_

I sat up, but then blasted him with a beam and watched him flying backwards. Must have pissed him off because my suit was crackling with electricity all of the sudden.

_"Power at 400% capacity,"_ JARVIS announced.

"How 'bout that?" I mused before sending another beam at Thunderman.

We fought and collided at middle air, hitting a cliff side, and defacing it with our faces. Then we went back to the middle of the forest, where we proceeded to brawl. I tried to punch him, but he grabs me by the wrists and starts to crush the armor like it was an empty can. I fired at his face, and then head butt him. Of course, he head butts me back, sending me flying. Though, being the awesome fighter that I am, I flew straight into the sucker and threw him at a dead tree. I tried to punch him, but he grabbed me and threw me down. Thank Primus I had jets to escape, using them right before he brought the hammer down. They fight would probably still be going on if a shield hitting us didn't interrupt us.

"Hey!"

We both looked up and found Cap on one of the dead trees.

"That's enough." He then jumped off and turned to Thor. "Now, I don't know what you plan on doing here."

"I've come to put an end to Loki's scheme," Thor told him.

"Then prove it," said Cap. "Put down your hammer.

Bad call, Cap. Bad call.

"Um, yeah...no," I tried to intervene. "Bad call. He likes his—" Of course, I never got the chance to finish because I felt something whack me and I went flying backwards.

"You want me to put the hammer _down_?!" I heard Blondie holler.

Uh-oh.

I lifted my head up to find him jumping and swinging his hammer towards Cap. I kept my head down before I heard this vibrating noise and a flash of light illuminated the night, followed by a gust of wind.

When it died down, I slowly opened the mask. I sat up and saw most of the trees down. I got up along with Rogers and Thor.

"Are we done here?" Cap asked.

A battle cry pierced the air and we jolted around.

"What was that?" I shouted.

We both looked up at the cliff to where Loki was.

Oh, slaggit!

When we got to where Loki was, some kid had their foot on top of the god's chest with a hand wrapped around his neck.

"Where's Terrence?" they demanded angrily with a British accent. "What did you do to him?"

_Time for some answers. Who sent you? Why are we being targeted?_

I shook that memory out of my head before Steve sprang forward and grabbed the kid. Thor stormed over and forced Loki on his feet. Me?

"Who do you think you are?" I demanded, my masked removed as I stormed over. I swore I stopped when I saw the girl. She looked tall, maybe late teens wearing a helmet with the mask shaped like a bird with wing-like features on the side. Her entire outfit was green and black. The hand braces on her was made of brass and the ends were fashioned like talons.

You think that didn't make her look scary, check out her back. There were two bat wings growing out of her! Powerful, strong, and I think they're black. I don't know. I couldn't tell.

"Let me go," she growled, struggling from Rogers. "I'm going to make him pay for what he did to Terrence."

Rogers stopped and ripped the helmet off. Curls of ash brown hair cascaded down to her shoulders with fiery blue eyes piercing in the moonlight.

"Hey, she kinda looks like you," I joked.

"Stark!" Rogers starts.

"I was talking to Thor," I corrected.

Thor frowned.

That was the longest night of my life.

Well, maybe right next to Cheetor getting caught in that transmetal accident that gave him his secondary form.


	5. An Equation With No Variables

**Well, here's chapter five. Next chapter...the fight on the hellicarrier and then they're off to New York. Bye. Adios. Sayonara. Arrivederci. Auf Wiedersehen. Adieu. Farvel. Pożegnanie. Adeus.**

**Oh, dear. I'm tired now.**

5. An Equation With No Variables

I missed out on Director Fury talking to Loki and most of the conversation at the table. I had to get myself out of my suit and into a different one. I walked down the hall where I could here them.

"Adopted or not," I could hear Chloe Chancellor, aka Gipsy, say, "he has _no_ right doing this to our own people."

"I think it's about the mechanics," Dr. Banner concluded. "Iridium...what do they need the iridium for?"

"It's a stabilizing agent," I answered as I waltzed in. Then I turned to Phil. "I'm just saying, pick a weekend. I'll fly you to Portland. Keep the love alive." I turned back to the others. "It means that the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D."

Thor glared at me.

"No hard feelings, Point Break. You have a very mean swing," I told him.

"Aren't you a flatterer?" Chloe teased.

"Yeah," I nearly laughed before I continued, "Also, it means that the portal can open as wide and stay as open as long as Loki wants."

And then I began to bark out orders.

"Raise the mizzenmast. Jib the topsails."

They all just gave me a funny look.

"That man is playing Galaga. Thought that we wouldn't notice, but we did."

A boy nearby about Chloe's age, almost six feet tall with tan skin, green eyes, and fresh brown hair frowned. "How does my _dad_ see all of this?"

I frowned. This was Fury's adopted son Jason?

"He turns," Agent Hill tells him.

"Glad I don't," Jason sighed. "That sounds exhausting."

Couldn't agree anymore, kiddo.

"The rest of the raw materials," I continued, "Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. The only major component he still needs is a power source of high-energy density. Something to kick start the cube."

"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" Agent Hill questioned.

"Last night," I told her. "The packet, Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?"

"Pretty much," Gipsy mumbled.

"Does Loki need any kind of particular power source?" Cap asks.

"He would have to heat the Cube to 120-million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier," Dr. Banner answered.

"Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect," I added.

"Well, if he could do that..." Jason trailed off from their as he made a gesture.

"He could achieve heavy ion fusion at any any reactor on the planet," Dr. Banner finished.

"Finally!" I exclaimed. "Someone who speaks English."

"Is that what just happened?" Cap asked dumbstruck.

"Pretty much," Chloe chuckled.

I went over and shook Dr. Banner's hand. "It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on antielectron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fun of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage-monster."

"Wow, you're right," I heard Thor say. "He is a flatterer." And then there was both he and Gipsy laughing.

"Um, thanks," Dr. Banner said anyways.

"Dr. Banner is only here to track the Cube."

Speaking of Unicron...

"I was hoping you might join him," Fury requested.

"I would start with that stick of his," Cap suggested. "It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon."

"HYDRA?" Jason echoed.

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the Cube," says Fury. "And I would like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

"Flying monkeys?" Thor wondered. "I don't get it."

"I do," Cap and Gipsy said at the same time.

And there goes the awkward silence again.

"We get the reference," Gipsy explained.

* * *

I had no idea what Banner was doing, but he was running a scan on the staff of Loki's. Gipsy stood by to watch him. Couldn't blame her. She grew up part of her life in a lab. Primus, she kind of reminded me a lot about Nightscream.

"The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's reports of the Tesseract," Dr. Banner announced.

"How long will it take?" Gipsy asked.

"Maybe weeks to process," Dr. Banner answered.

"If we bypass their mainframe and direct route to the Homer cluster, we can clock this at around six hundred teraflops," I said.

"All I packed was a toothbrush," Dr. Banner joked. I think.

"Wow," Gipsy said.

"You know, you should come by Stark Tower sometime," I said, walking over to them.

"Me?" Gipsy asked, giving me a weird look.

"No," I told her.

"Thanks," says Dr. Banner. "But the last time I was in New York, I kind of broke Harlem."

"Well, I promise a stress-free environment," I vowed.

"Says the guy who must like Black Sabbath and has this cocky attitude," Gipsy teased.

"I'm sorry, but how old are you?" I asked.

"Nineteen," she answered.

Figures.

"I do," I swore. "No tensions. No surprises."

I might have lied when I shocked Dr. Banner with one of those little sticks.

"Ow!" Dr. Banner exclaimed.

"Hey!" Gipsy shouted.

"Nothing?" I asked.

"Are you nuts?" Cap snapped, walking into the room.

"Yep," answers Gipsy.

"You really have got a lid on it, haven't you?" I said. "What's your secret? Mellow jazz, bongo drums, huge bag of weed?"

"Is everything a joke to you?" Cap questioned.

"Funny things are," I told him.

"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny," Cap scolded. "No offense, Doc."

"It's all alright, I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things," Dr. Banner stated.

"Amen, brother," Gipsy exclaimed.

"You're tip-toeing, big man," I pointed out. "You need to strut."

"And you need to start focusing on the problem, Mr. Stark," Cap snapped, being the soldier that he is.

"You think I'm not?" I questioned. "Why did Fury call us in? Why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all of the variables."

"So in our defense, you think Fury is hiding something from us?" Gipsy guessed.

Bingo!

"He's a spy," I explained. "Guys, he's _the_ spy. His secrets have secrets. It's bugging even his own son, too. Isn't it?"

"Leave him out of this," Gipsy snarled, her teeth bared at me.

"What?" I questioned. "Isn't it bugging you?"

She didn't answer.

"Maybe you?" I turned to Dr. Banner.

"Uh...I just want to finish my work here and..."

"Doctor? Ms. Chancellor?" says Cap.

Dr. Banner hesitated.

"It's got me suspicious," Gipsy admitted softly.

"'A warm light for all mankind,'" Dr. Banner quoted. "Loki's jab at Fury about the Cube."

"I heard it," Cap said.

"I think that was meant for you," Dr. Banner told me. "Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower, it was still all over the news."

"The Stark Tower?" Cap wondered. "That big, _ugly_ building in New York?"

Gipsy smirked.

"It's powered by an arc reactor, a self-sustaining energy source," Dr. Banner explained. "That building will run itself for, what, a year?"

"It's just a prototype," I explained. "I'm kind of the only name in the clean energy right now. That's what he's getting at."

"So, why didn't S.H.I.E.L.D. bring him in on the Tesseract project?" Dr. Banner wondered. "What are they doing in the energy business in the first place?"

"I should probably look into that once my decryption program finishes breaking into all of the S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secure files," I said.

Gipsy stared at me with wide eyes. "What?"

"I'm sorry," said Cap. "Did you say...?"

"Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge," I told him. "In a few hours, I'll know every dirty secret S.H.I.E.L.D has ever tried to hide."

"And here you wonder why they didn't want you around," Gipsy seethed.

"An intelligence organization that _fears_ intelligence?" I shot back. "Historically, not awesome."

"I think Loki's trying to wind us up," Cap stated. "This is a man who means to start a war and if we don't stay focus, he'll succeed. We have orders. We should follow them."

"Following's not my style," I proclaimed.

_It was when you were a Maximal,_ a voice spoke in the back of my head.

"And you're all about style, aren't you?" Cap countered.

"I'm sorry," Gipsy spoke, "and no offense, but you are the only one in the room here that looks like the actual American flag."

Cap glared at her.

"What? It's the truth."

"Steve," Dr. Banner told him, "tell me none of this smells a little funky to you."

"...Just find the Cube," Cap mumbled before he left the room.

_Good riddance,_ I thought as Gipsy ran after him.

* * *

Just skip to the next day, shall we?

"Dad!" I could hear Jason shout. "Dad, come on! You're overreacting."

Fury walked into the room.

"Dad, stop!" Jason yelled, following inside.

"What are you doing, Mr. Stark?" Fury demanded.

"Uh, kind of been wondering the same thing about you," I shot back.

"You're suppose to be looking for the Tesseract," Fury reminded me.

"We are," Dr. Banner said. "The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now."

Jason was studying us. "I don't like the looks on your faces."

"Neither do I," Fury seethed.

"What is Phase Two?" I blurted out.

Cap slammed a funny looking weapon on the table.

"Phase Two is S.H.I.E.L.D uses the Cube to make weapons," he answered.

"Sorry," Gipsy apologized with feign regret as she walked in. "Computers were slow in the process of knowing what's going on around here."

"Rogers," starts Fury, "we gathered every related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we're making..."

"I'm sorry, Nick," I spoke before turning the screen to him. "What were you lying?"

Gipsy frowned before Jason walked over and whispered into her ear before they left the room.

"I was wrong, Director," Cap said at the same time. "The world hasn't _changed_ a bit."

Just as Thor and Natasha walked in.

"Did you know about this?" Dr. Banner asked the redhead.

"You want to think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?" she challenges him.

"I was in Calcutta," Dr. Banner countered. "I was pretty well removed."

"Loki is manipulating you," Natasha told him.

"And you've been doing what, exactly?" Dr. Banner wondered.

"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."

"Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy. I'd like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."

"It's because of him." Fury pointed at Thor.

"Me?" Thor asked.

"Last year, Earth had a visit from another planet that had a grudge match that leveled a small town," Fury explained. "We learned that only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously outgunned."

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet!" Thor growled.

"But you're not the only ones out there, are you?" Fury questioned. "And you're not the only threat. The world is filling up with people that can't be matched, that can't be controlled!"

"Like you control the cube?" Cap questioned.

"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it," Thor said. "And his allies. It is a signal to the Realm that Earth is ready for a higher form of war!"

"Higher form?" Fury objected. "You forced our hand! We had to come up with some way that we could..."

"A nuclear deterrent?" I asked. "Cause that always works well..."

"Remind me how you made your fortune, Mr. Stark," Fury remarked.

_Simple,_ I thought. _A bunch of fishermen pulled me out of the harbor, you guys took me in, made me someone that I'm not and..._

"I'm sure if Stark still made weapons..." Cap said, trying to defend me.

Wait a minute. _What?_

"Hold on a second," I piped. "How is this all of the sudden about me?"

"I thought _everything_ was about you," Cap snapped back.

"I thought humans were more evolved than this," Thor remarked.

"Excuse me, did _we_ come to _your_ planet and blow stuff up?" Fury shot back.

"You treat your defenders with mistrust," Thor countered.

"Are you really that dense?" Natasha spoke. "S.H.I.E.L.D. monitors potential threats.

"Captain America is on threat watch?" Dr. Banner asked.

"We _all_ are!" Natasha exclaimed.

"You're on that list?" I asked Cap. "Are you above or below angry bees?"

I must have really pissed him off, because he growled, "I swear, Stark, one more wisecrack out of you..."

"Verbal threat! Threatening! I'm being threatened!" I exclaimed before a heated argument ensued.

Or _would_ of when suddenly:

"Stop it!"

We glanced up at Gipsy and Jason.

"You guys are the worst!" Jason agreed loudly. "You, the Tesseract doesn't matter that much! You, you are all not on the hit list! You...just be the calm guy that you are! You, nothing revolves around you so shut up! You, it's not our fault the world hasn't changed that much! You, we are not accusing you; we're accusing Loki! And you..." He stopped before he put both of his hands on Gip's shoulders and said nicely, "Stay pretty."

Gipsy gave him a funny.

"You people are so petty...and tiny," Thor laughed.

"Hey!" Jason exclaimed, glaring at him.

"Agent Romanoff," said Fury, "would you escort Dr. Banner back to his..."

"Back where?" Dr. Banner asked. "You rented my room."

"The cell was just in case..." Fury tried to explain.

"In case you needed to kill me, but you can't. I know, I _tried_," said Dr. Banner.

We all couldn't help but stare at him.

"I got low. I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth, and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good, until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk! You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?"

"Doctor Banner...put down the scepter," Cap tells him.

Banner looked down and was shocked to see that he's holding Loki's scepter. Suddenly, one of the computers start to beep.

"Got it."

Dr. Banner set the scepter down on the table and strolled over with Jason and Natasha in tow.

"Sorry, kids. You don't get to see my little party trick after all."

"Did you find it?" Jason asked.

"I can track it down faster," I said.

"The Tesseract belongs to Asgard," Thor said.

"We know," Gipsy said.

"You're not going out there alone," Cap told me as he grabbed me.

"You gonna stop me?" I challenged.

"Put on the suit," Cap said.

"I'm not afraid to hit an old man," I told him.

"Knock it off!" Jason shouted.

We looked at him.

"We've got bigger issues," Jason reminded us, gesturing to the screen.

Just as the room exploded.


	6. Fire in the Sky

**Just to warn you that in future notice there might be dark and angsty material in here. I don't know. It depends on how far I'll go here.**

* * *

6. Fire in the Sky

The room felt like whole entire place was on fire. I was slammed onto the ground with Cap and Gipsy. I sat up and felt the heat of the fire. Now was a good time to take orders.

"Put on the suit?" Gipsy guessed.

Considering she _wasn't_ wearing hers.

"Yeah," I answered as all three of us ran out of the room.

_"All hands to station,"_ an agent announced over the PA as we ran down the hall.

_"Hill!"_ I heard Fury exclaim over the intercom.

_"External detonation!"_ Agent Hill reported. _"Number three engine is down."_

"That sucks!" Gipsy shouted.

"Yeah, I know," I replied.

"What are we going to do?" Gipsy asked. "It's almost impossible to repair this in the air."

"If we lose one more engine we won't be," Cap stated.

_"Somebody's got to get outside and patch that engine,"_ Agent Hill reported again.

_"Stark, you copy that?"_ Nick asked me.

"I'm on it," I confirmed.

"What about Jason?" Gipsy asked.

I stopped and turned to her. "He'll be fine. Rest assured. Just remember something."

"What?" she asked.

"The seeds of the future lie buried in the past," I told her. Then I ran off, leaving her confused. I could even here her say, "What?"

Cap and I stopped midway there.

"Engine three," I told them. "I'll meet you there."

Cap ran off and Gipsy appeared.

"Stark," she began to ask. "What does that mean?"

I looked at her. "You'll find out. Now get to engine three."

"Yes, sir," she saluted before running off.

"And tell Cap what I told you!" I shouted.

Gipsy didn't do much. She just stopped and shook her head before she dashed off once more.

I pulled out the remote and pressed the button to open the hatch that contained my armor and activated it. I just wish that I was an actual robot again.

**(Here we now enter a new POV; both Steve and Chloe)**

Chloe managed to catch up with Steve as he opened the hatch that lead to the the outside. Three agents quickly got inside. She felt the pressure of the air push on her as she walked outside. She looked down and nearly screamed, but Steve grabbed her shoulder.

"It's okay," he coaxed. "Everything's going to be fine."

Chloe nodded, her breathing heavy. "Tony said...seeds of the past...lie buried...in the future," she breathed.

Steve gave her a funny look.

"That's what thought!" she screeched.

"Ouch!" Steve yelped, covering his ears.

Chloe looked around. "Where's Stark?"

"Stark!" Steve shouted as he got near the edge. "Stark, we're here!"

**(Back to Tony Stark's/Optimus Primal's POV)**

"Stark, we're here!"

"Good," I answered, flying in. "Let's see what we got."

"Well, it's sure something that even State Farms couldn't fix," Gipsy pointed out.

"Funny," I spoke dryly. I looked at the damage. "We got to get this superconducting coolant system back online before I can access the rotors, work on dislodging the debris."

I wasn't sure if it was a turbine or what, but I just put it back in its place. I turned to the other two.

"I need you to get to that engine control panel and tell me which relays are in overload position," I told Rogers. "Gipsy, I need you to help back him up."

She didn't seemed satisfied, but she obeyed as I set to work, working my way into the engine rotors.

"What does it look like in there?" I asked.

_"Hayden would call it heaven,"_ Gipsy piped up.

Who?

_"It seems to run on some form of electricity,"_ Rogers replied.

"Well, you're not wrong," I answered back.

I kept getting deeper in until I finally had to shoot myself in. Then I could get inside. Thank the Great and Almighty lord!

_"Okay, the relays are intact!"_ Rogers reported to me. _"So, what's our next move?"_

"Even if I clear the rotors," I explained, "this thing won't re-engine without a jump. I'm going to have to get in there and push."

_"Well, if that thing gets up to speed, you'll be shredded,"_ Rogers pointed out.

_"I told you he's nuts,"_ Gipsy squawked.

Oh, you haven't seen me nutty _yet_, kiddo.

"That stator control unit can reverse the polarity long enough to disengage maglev and that could—"

_"Speak English!"_ Rogers demanded.

Geez, everyone's a critic.

"See that red lever?" I asked.

_"Yeah."_

"It will slow the rotors down long enough for me to get out. Stand by it. Wait for my word."

_"Sounds like a piece of cake,"_ Gipsy uttered.

_Then try taking down the Grand Mal,_ I thought silently, glad that she wasn't psychic.

I cut one of the broken blades and smashed through it to get inside. I sort of cleaned it up until I managed to get one of the good blades and pressed my hands against it.

_"Stark, we're losing altitude,"_ Fury said over the link.

"Yeah, I noticed," I informed him.

I don't know how much strength I used, but soon I had it going at full speed. And it would have made you dizzy watching this. It was like getting drunk on Christmas, only without the drinking part.

"Cap, hit the lever," I told Spangle Banner.

_"I need a minute here!"_ Rogers shouted.

"Gips, the lever," I told the mutant. (She will kill me if she found out I called her that.)

_"I'm a little busy here!"_ she announced.

Seriously? Her _too_?

"Guys, lever. _Now!_"

Something didn't feel right then. I looked up and found the blade moving away from me. Then I felt my back collide with something from behind.

"Uh-oh."

**_BAM!_**

"Help!" I shouted as I circled around, being juggled and whacked by the turbine.

And then by magic I found myself falling before I could regain control and flew upwards. I am going to have a word with those...Yeah, those plans left as I tackled the guy that tried to shoot them both and slammed him into the wall. I flipped onto my back and groaned in pain.

"You okay?"

I looked up to find Gipsy over me.

"I feel like crap," I responded.

Gips laughed as she helped me up. I pulled off my helmet and felt the cool air rushing around me.

Yeah, that felt good.

_"Agent Coulson is down."_

Silence overtook the three of us.

_"Paramedics are on their way. _

_They're already here. They called it."_

* * *

Steve, Chloe, and I sat at the table in silent. Director Fury stood by holding something.

"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket," he said to Steve. "I guess he never did get you to sign them."

He threw the bloodstained Captain America trading cards on the table. I watch as Steve picks up one of them. Chloe gasped as she covered her mouth.

"We're dead in the air up here," Director Fury continued. "Our communications, the location of the Cube, Banner, Thor...I got nothing for you. I lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming. Yes. We were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number, though, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea, Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of of remarkable people to see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died, still believing in that idea. In heroes."

I couldn't bare it anymore. I got up and left the room and headed straight to where they kept Loki prisoner. I looked out into the space where the cell use to be. Now it's just an empty hole. Something that triggered a memory that was similar to Loki's imprisonment.

_"Greetings, Optimus Primal."_

_"What do you want from us?"_

_"Oh, nothing much. Just every bit of data of the Oracle to better understand how I can fully exploit the precious sparks in my possession. I anticipate that extracting this information will be slow...and painful. And regretfully fatal."_

I shuddered at the memory. "Megatron, you never had the chance."

"Who?"

I looked over to find Chloe standing there.

"No one," I told her, looking away.

I didn't know that Steve came in until later. "Was he married?" he asked.

"No," I said. "There was a...cellist."

Chloe frowned and looked up at me.

"I think."

"I'm sorry," Steve apologized. "He seemed like a good man."

I scoffed. "He was an idiot."

"Why?" Steve wondered. "For believing?"

"For taking on Loki alone."

"He was doing his job."

"He was out of his league. He should have waited. He should have..."

"Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony."

"He's right, you know," Chloe spoke before becoming silent again.

"Right. I've heard that before."

"Is this the first time you ever lost a soldier?"

I snapped. I glared at him and snarled, "We are _not_ soldiers!"

Chloe looked over at us from her place.

"I'm not marching up to Fury's fife," I made clear.

"Neither are we," Steve said. "He's got the same blood on his hands as Loki does. But right now, we got to put that behind us and get this done."

"Loki needs a power source," Chloe informed. "If we can put together a list—"

"He made it personal," I theorized.

"That's not the point," said Steve.

"It is the point," I argued. "That's Loki's point. He hit us all right where we live. Why?"

"To tear us apart," Steve answered.

"Yeah, divide and conquer is great, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right? That' what he wants. He wants to beat us, he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience."

"Right, I caught his act at Stuttgart."

"Yeah. That's just a preview, this will be opening night. Loki's a full-tilt diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built in the skies with his name plastered..."

I stopped.

"Sonofabitch!"

"What?" Chloe asked as I stormed to where my armor was.

"He's found out where Loki is," Steve told her before calling out, "Wait, Stark. What did you mean by 'The seeds in the future lie buried in the past?'"

I looked over my shoulder. "You'll see."


	7. Head On With the Mischief God

**I am not sorry for this being short. XD**

7. Head On With the Mischief God

I half expected to find myself confronting Loki, but when I got there I found Dr. Selvig working on the the...uh, thingie.

"Sir, I've shut down the Arc Reacter, but the device is already self-sustaining," Jarvis told me.

I think I can see that.

"Shut it down, Dr. Selvig," I ordered.

"It's too late!" the brainwashed man said. "She can't stop now. She wants to show us something! A new universe."

"OK."

I activated my repulsor to destroy it, but of course there was a barrier surrounding it, sending us both flying backwards.

"The barrier is pure energy," Jarvis described. "It's unbreachable."

"Yeah I got that," I said as I spotted Loki down below. "Plan B."

I flew over to the landing pad.

"Sir, the Mark VII is not ready for deployment," Jarvis said.

"Then skip the spinning rims," I told him. "We're on the clock!"

I landed and felt the removing tech come to life. As my armor was being removed from me, I glanced over at Loki as he went inside. To be honest, I have never been _this_ tense before in my entire life. He reminded me of Megatron. But instead of deploying a virus and stealing their life sources, the god of mischief was enslaving this world. My new home. And I am not going to let history repeat itself.

"Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity," Loki mocked.

"Uh, actually I'm planning to threaten you," I stated as I went down the stairs.

"You should have left your armor on for that," Loki pointed out.

"Yeah," I said. "It's seen a bit of mileage and you got the glow-stick of destiny. Would you like a drink?"

"Stalling me won't change anything," Loki remarked.

"No, no no, threatening," I reminded. "No drink? You sure? I'm having one."

"The Chitauri are coming. Nothing will change that. What have I to fear?"

"The Avengers."

Loki gave me an awkward look.

"It's what we call ourselves, sort of like a team. 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' type thing."

"Yes, I've met them."

"Yeah, takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one. But let's do a head count here: your brother the demigod," I listed as I strapped the silver bracelets on my wrists, "a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breath-taking anger management issues; a college kid that is part bat; a couple of master assassins, and _you_, big fella...you've managed to piss off every single one of them."

"That was the plan."

"Not a great plan. When they come, and they _will_, they'll come for you."

"I have an army."

"We have a Hulk."

"I thought the beast had wandered off..."

"You're missing the point! There's no throne, there is no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damned well sure we'll avenge it!"

"How will your friends have time for me, when they're so busy fighting _you_?"

Fear pricked me as he tapped his scepter against the ark reactor centered in my chest.

Nothing.

He tried it again and _still_ nothing.

"This usually works."

"Well, performance issues, it's not uncommon. One out of five—"

Then that bastard grabs me by the neck and threw me across the room. That hurt, man!

"Jarvis, any time now," I gasped as I struggled to my feet.

And then he grabbed my throat again.

"You will all...fall...before me," Loki snarled.

"Jarvis, deploy," I choked. "Deploy."

Then Loki threw me out the window, sending me falling.

Scrap.

Red bright lights aimed at my wrists and the small light on them flashed red. I felt the armor attaching itself on me as I went farther to the ground. As soon as my mask covered my face I reacted my rockets and flew upwards.

"By the way, there's one other person you managed to piss off," I added as I stopped in front of Loki. "His name's Phil."

He aimed his scepter at me, but I blasted him and watched him crash onto the floor. Then I heard this weird noise. I looked over to see what was going on.

The device had activated. And it was opening a portal in the sky. Curse Loki for picking this place! And then these things, the one I assume are the Chitauri, come flying out on these hovering crafts.

"Right," I breathed, switching to fight mode. "Army."


	8. Avengers Assemble

**With so much work and family issues happening, there was no way I could have gotten this done over the holidays. But hey, I get out early from school tomorrow. That's a thumbs up.**

**Oh, by the way...I'm not sorry that this chapter is short! XD**

8. Avengers Assemble

Not good. Not good, not good, _not good!_

I flew up and shot at the ones that were available to get at, but more kept coming out of the portal. So I had to have the shoulder plates to open and let the little nukes out, but that didn't work much. And now I'm being chased by them. Geez, isn't this the greatest day of my life.

/_Stark, we're on your three, headed northeast._/ Natasha pinged.

Finally!

"What? Did you stop for drive-through?" I questioned.

Long silence.

/_Uh, no._/ she and some other guy replied at the same time.

They did!

"Just swing out park," I said. "I'm gonna lay them out for you."

**(The POVs of Rogers, Barton, Romanoff, and Chancellor)**

"There!" Chloe shouted, pointing ahead on the street.

Natasha activated the rail gun and opened fire on any Chitauri that passed by. They dodged the building when it came close and higher into the air. They circled around the tower as they shot more at the Chitauri until they saw Loki and Thor fighting each other.

"Nat?" Clint said.

"I see him," Natasha confirmed.

"Let's get him," Chloe snarled.

They aimed the rail gun and shot at him, but Loki aimed his scepter at the jet and fired a beam at one of the engines. The quinjet went falling to the ground, spinning uncontrollably as it did so. They held on as tightly as they could until the impact breached them and the jet skidded to a stop. They opened the hatch and ran out.

"We've got to get back up there," Steve said.

Chloe looked up at the portal. "Look!"

**(Stark/Primal POV)**

What in the pits of Kaon was that thing?

It was ugly, toothy, huge, and it was spitting Chitauri from its sides.

Holy Primus!

/_Stark, you seeing this?_/ Steve asked through intercom.

"Seeing," I replied. "Still working on believing. Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?"

/_Banner?_/

"Just keep me posted." I focused on the beast. "Jarvis, find me a soft spot."

We tracked the monster down. I don't know how far we followed it, but I managed to catch up to it. I launched more small missiles at it. It roared and turned to me.

"Well, I got his attention. What the hell was step two?" I turned and flew as fast as I could from it as it roared and chased me. I quickly kept the intercom on in case.

/_What's the story behind upstairs?_/ Steve asked.

/_The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable._/ Thor answered.

"Thor's right," I spoke. "We gotta deal with these guys."

/_How do we do this?_/ Natasha questioned.

/_As a team._/ Steve said.

/_I have unfinished business with Loki._/ Thor stated.

/_Yeah. Well, get in line._/ the other guy said.

I glanced behind me to still find the beast following me. Crap. It was catching up fast. _Very_ fast. I picked up the pace and kept flying.

/_Stark? We got him_/

"Banner...?"

/_Just like you said._/

"Then tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you."

I turned the corner of a building with the Leviathan right behind me, heading toward the rest of the Avengers. I could see them in view. Dr. Banner came walking forward.

"Come on, come on, come on," I mumbled. "Anytime now."

Just then he turned green and huge and he smashed his fist into the monster's head, forcing it to slightly bend over. Or, whatever. You saw the movie.

"Hold on!" I called out. I aimed my blaster and fired at the skin of the Leviathan. The sucker blew up, chunks of it flying everywhere, and it crashed down completely. But right now, we got the Chitauri to deal with.


End file.
